Justice League of America (New Earth)
Post-Crisis Justice League International The new Justice League America that formed after the Legends crisis (wherein the New God known as Darkseid embarked upon a plan to weaken the resolve of Earth's faith in the super-hero community) consisted of Doctor Fate, Batman, Mister Miracle, Green Lantern (Guy Gardner), Blue Beetle (Ted Kord), Captain Marvel (although his presence was later retconned with Zero Hour), Black Canary, the heroic Dr. Light, and Oberon. This time, the unscrupulous financier and liaison Maxwell Lord appeared. Justice League America quickly renamed itself to "Justice League International." Captain Atom and Rocket Red joined the team as Captain Marvel and Dr. Fate leave. The team also takes up a new residence, this time in Metropolis. The team continued to grow until the decision was made to split it into two teams: Justice League International returned to being Justice League America and a new Justice League Europe was formed in Paris. The JLE lineup consisted of Captain Atom as field leader, Elongated Man, Power Girl, Flash (Wally West), Rocket Red, Animal Man, and Metamorpho. The Watchtower A new JLA would form after a new villain calling himself Know Man kidnapped Doctor Destiny and used his powerful reality altering abilities to cause many of the world's heroes to briefly forget their superheroic identities. Know Man revealed a seemingly insane plot to transform the entire population of earth into metahumans--a move that he said was necessary to combat an oncoming evil. The world's greatest heroes were on the job, however, and Know Man was stopped and forced to flee. The then current Justice League, which had essentially been reduced to Metamorpho, Ice, and a couple of others operating out of the Overmind's defunct space ship. That ship was destroyed and Metamorpho seemingly killed after the arrival of the Hyperclan, a team of super powered aliens who arrived on Earth offering to transform the world into a paradise. To that end, they rounded up several super villains and summarily executed, drawing the opposition of Earth's heroes. The Good Samaritan routine quickly proved a sham--the Hyperclan were renegade White Martians. Only by joining together could the heroes defeat them, and afterwards they decided they would be the core lineup of an all new JLA. Using Martian and Kryptonian technology, the team quickly built a new base, the Watchtower, on the surface of the moon.''JLA'' #1-4 The team then decided to have a recruitment drive--Hitman, Damage, and Max Mercury did not make the cut, but a mysterious woman named Tomorrow Woman did. She quickly turned out to be a highly advanced android built by T.O. Morrow and Professor Ivo to be a plant inside the League--but they gave her too much free will and she self sacrificed to save the others. Afterwards, she was given a hero's funeral.JLA 5 (1997) The new team soon gets called out to California, where the angel Zauriel has come to earth, pursued by renegade angels working for Asmodel. Soon Asmodel himself shows up and most of the team has to battle him while Superman--currently in his blue energy form--has to stop Neron and the Demons Three from causing the moon to fall out of the sky. Once he's successful, he wrestles Asmodel to a standstill while Zauriel and GL manage to build a device with his power ring that banishes the other angels off the Earth.JLA 6 (1997)-JLA 7 (1997) Back on the Watchtower, the team is caught off guard and knocked unconscious by the villainous Key. He and his robot minions hook them up to a virtual reality machine, causing each of them to live a different life in VR as part of a plot to take over all of space and time (it's complicated). Luckily, Green Arrow (Connor Hawke) beams up to the Watchtower (he was coming for a second interview) and recovering his Dad's old trick arrows from the Trophy Room he manages to almost single handedly take down Key and his robots. Green Arrow is inducted as a member of the League.JLA 8 (1997)-JLA 9 (1997) Aztek joins the League shortly thereafter,Aztek #10 bringing the roster up to nine--briefly, as Wonder Woman shortly dies.Wonder Woman 125 (Volume 2, 1997) In opposition to the new League, Lex Luthor decides to form a new Injustice Gang, consisting of himself, Circe, Joker, Ocean Master, Mirror Master, and Doctor Light. Luthor had acquired the Rock of Ages, which granted him extensive power, and built a secret lair for the Gang on an orbiting satellite. Building hard light holograms in the form of the Justice League members, the Injustice Gang commenced an attack on Star City, massacring many people before the League could stop the holograms. During the battle, Aquaman sensed the mind of his brother, Ocean Master, controlling one of the holograms and this helped put the team on the right trail. After taking a timeout to deal with the Genesis event, the League gets back on the trail and soon uncovers the truth about Luthor and his new gang. Green Arrow is corrupted by Circe into becoming a mole, while Batman manages to contact Mirror Master and get him to become a turncoat in the Gang. The JLA also recruits Plastic Man, who manages to also infiltrate the satellite posing as the Joker (after tying up the real Joker). Superman and Martian Manhunter attempt to infiltrate the Gang's lair, only to discover it booby trapped. Meanwhile, Metron arrives and warns the team about Luthor's possession of the Rock of Ages. He takes Aquaman, Flash, and Green Lantern on a mission to Wonder World before promising to return them.JLA 10-12 Traveling faster than light, Aquaman, GL, and Flash end up returning to Earth fifteen years in the future--a future where Darkseid has conquered the Earth after the destruction of the Rock of Ages. Their minds assert themselves into their future bodies--Kyle's does not have his power ring, and Wally's is sick and out of shape, causing both of them to despair. Superman and J'onn J'onzz are dead, and Batman has been missing for eight years. Diana, however, is alive and doing her best to lead the resistance against Darkseid, who has converted over half the planet's population into drones with no free will of their own. All that's left of the League aside from Diana are Green Arrow (Connor Hawke), the Atom (Ray Palmer), Argent, a reprogrammed Amazo, and a new Aztek. Breaking into Darkseid's palace, the team discovers that Batman is still alive--he managed to defeat Desaad and has recently assumed his place. Darkseid shows up, and as Diana battles him, Batman manages to seize control of Metron and his Mobius chair, forcing him to send the three time traveling heroes back to the right era. As Diana falls to Darkseid, Argent and Aztek successfully destroy his "zombie factory" on the moon (losing their own lives in the process). Batman is defenseless against Darkseid (who now has a personal forcefield that deflects all attacks) and the Dark Lord strikes him down. That leaves Atom and GA (Amazo is brought down on the way in) but the two most unlikely hereos manage to kill the great Darkseid himself.JLA #13-14 Fortunately, none of that "really" happens, as the three heroes are restored to their proper place and prevent the destruction of the Rock of Ages. Luthor even uses its awesome power to bring back to life everyone killed in the Star City massacre. Green Arrow reveals that he never really betrayed the team, he was just allowing Circe to think he had, and after a battle where Mirror Master walks out, the Injustice Gang is defeated--but Lex Luthor is as untouchable as always.JLA #15 The team briefly considers disbanding, feeling that they might attract more enemies, but decide to stay the course. They recruit new members: Steel, Big Barda, Orion, Plastic Man, Wonder Woman (Hippolyta), and Huntress while inviting the press up to the Watchtower to cover the event. At that exact moment, Prometheus chooses to make his entrance, and he manages to systematically take down the League one by one, exploiting each of their weaknesses, before a humbled Batman is able to finally turn the tables.JLA #16-17 Zauriel joined the team shortly thereafter. The JLA had to battle in D.C. against Julian September, who had managed to upset the "odds" in the universe, causing the number seven to appear (i.e. seven villains randomly decided to try and kidnap the President, seven airplanes almost collided with one another). As the cancer on probability began to affect all reality, it also began to affect the past, causing (among other things) Batman to disappear when the gun that would have shot his parents jammed. With the help of the Atom, the League was able to set it all to right, however.JLA #18-19 The JLA had to rally behind Superman Red and Superman Blue to defeat the Millennium Giants during the Behold! The Millennium Giants! adventure that almost saw the world's destruction. Thankfully, the Man of Steel was able to save the day, and afterwards he was transformed back into his usual self.Superman: Forever #1 Justice Avengers Assemble The Justice League encountered a super-hero team (The Avengers) from a parallel Earth and were forced to find key artifacts in one another's universe, as well as deal with the threats of villains Krona and the Grandmaster. Identity Crisis Identity Crisis, and its immediate fallout, The "Crisis of Conscience" JLA 115 (2005)-JLA 120 (2005), led to the dissolution of the Justice League of America. The breakdown of relationships of Identity Crisis reached its zenith. As in the time of the Detroit JLA, the team disbanded again, leaving it to the Martian Manhunter to again rebuild the team, with Superman's blessing. Meanwhile, following his resignation from the JLA, Batman is confronted by his faithful aide, Alfred Pennyworth, who surmises that the reason why Batman was so outraged over the mind-wiping of Dr. Light and other villains (and himself) was that Catwoman may have also been mind-wiped, and this might have been the reason for her semi-heroic nature in recent years, rather than any positive influence from Batman himself. Infinite Crisis and Aftermath Later, someone, recognized by the JLA Watchtower's systems as the Man of Steel, blows the Watchtower apart, in the very moment in which the Martian Manhunter found, and was about to tell the others, a connection between the team dissolution, the rise of the OMACs, the intergalactic war between Rann and Thanagar, the creation of a new Secret Society of Super-Villains and the rampage against magic by the Spectre. This intruder is later revealed to be the Earth-Prime Superboy. So, in the beginning of the Infinite Crisis, the JLA will be disbanded again. 52 Several months later, during the "Lost Year" following Infinite Crisis, Firestorm reorganized the team, inviting Ambush Bug, Bulleteer, Firehawk, and Super-Chief. This League lasted very briefly. Their first and only mission, fighting a renegade Skeets, resulted in the death of Super-Chief, during Week 24. One Year Later A year after the disolution caused by Infinite Crisis, Red Tornado's elemental spirit is tricked into abandoning his android body in favor of a human one. The android body is then abducted and modified by supervillains, an act which ultimately causes the ten heroes to assemble and form the new team. | Equipment = | Transportation = | Weapons = | Notes = *The team was rebuilt in the 1987 company wide crossover miniseries, Legends. This new team was given a less America-centric mandate than before, and was dubbed the Justice League International (or "JLI" for short); the new comic was written by Keith Giffen and DeMatteis, with art by Kevin Maguire. This new and very popular series added a quirky sense of tongue-in-cheek humor to the stories, with an occasional slant toward excessive silliness. *In 1989 Secret Origins #32 updated the JLA's classic origin from Justice League of America #9 (1962). See more below in "Origin of the JLA". The Lost Years Because the decision was made not to completely abandon all of the Pre-Crisis history, there was a six to seven year period that was "skipped" between when the revamp occurred and the regular series began. This period has sometimes been referred to as the "Lost Years" and has been covered in such series such as JLA: Year One and JLA: Incarnations as well as countless flashbacks and allusions in such works as Identity Crisis. Justice Leagues The Justice League titles expanded to a total of five by the early 1990s: Justice League of America (formerly Justice League International), Justice League Europe, Justice League Task Force, Justice League Quarterly, and Extreme Justice. By the 1990s, however, with the departure of Giffen as writer, the humor prevalent in the early JLI-era had disappeared in favor of more serious stories. As the commercial success of the series faded, each of the titles was canceled. JLA: Grant Morrison's Pantheon In 1997, a new Justice League series titled JLA debuted, written by Grant Morrison and with art by Howard Porter and John Dell (though the new version of team first appeared in the miniseries JLA: A Midsummer's Nightmare #1-3, written by Mark Waid and Fabian Nicieza). This series, in an attempt at a "back-to-basics" approach, used as its core the original and most famous seven members (or their character successors) of the team: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Flash (Wally West), Green Lantern (Kyle Rayner), and the Martian Manhunter. Added to this core roster was the character Plastic Man, as well as a new headquarters for the team, the "Watchtower", based on the moon. Morrison introduced the idea of the JLA allegorically representing a pantheon of gods, with their different powers and personalities. Since Morrison left the title, other writers and artists have taken over, though none with the success of Morrison's version of the Justice League. Has fought the Injustice Gang, which consists of Lex Luthor, Prometheus, Queen Bee, and Wade Eiling, who now inhabits Shaggy Man I. JLA: Mark Waid and Ra's Al Ghul In 2003, Giffen, DeMatteis, and Maguire returned with a separate miniseries called Formerly Known as the Justice League with the same humor as their Justice League run, and featuring some of the same characters in a team called the "Super Buddies" (which parodies the Super Friends). A follow up miniseries entitled I Can't Believe It's Not the Justice League soon began to be prepared, though it was delayed due to the events shown in the Identity Crisis limited series. Justice League of America: Brad Meltzer In late 2006 a new series, again titled "Justice League of America" began with the first 12 issues written by Brad Meltzer who, ironically, wrote the story Identity Crisis in which the revelation of the mind-wiping by members of the original team led in many ways to the dissolution of the last incarnation. | Trivia = JLA Pastiches * The Guardians of the Globe: Invincible (comic) references of the Justice League. * Squadron Supreme as a whole was created as an homage/parody of DC Comics's superhero team Justice League Of America. * Knights of Justice and Round Table of America (RTA) by Big Bang Comics published by Image Comics, recreate the golden age and silver age of comics. * Smallville (TV series): At the end of episode 4-05, "Run", Bart Allen (Flash) expresses his desire to create "a club or a league or something" for young people with superpowers. At the end of the episode 5-04, "Aqua", Arthur Curry (Aquaman) asks Clark Kent to join him in a Junior Lifeguard Association. Clark replies that he "isn't ready for the JLA yet". * The Allies, from Image Comics. | Links = }} Recommended Readings * JLA: Year One * JLA: Incarnations * JLA: New World Order * JLA: Rock of Ages * JLA: Strength in Numbers * JLA: World War III * JLA: Tower of Babel * JLA: The Obsidian Age, Parts I & II Related Articles * External Links * *Justice League of America at Wikipedia *Justice League Library containing chronologies and source references. *The JLA Ages *Justice League Pilot Info on the unreleased live action movie from the 90's. * The World's Greatest Super-Heroes. . . . . . the Justice League of America! Unca Cheeks' article on the JLA *PANNING FOR SILVER - ON GRANT MORRISON'S JLA . . . AND THE SENSE OF WONDER Part 1at Unca Cheeks the Toy Wonder's Silver Age Comics Web Site! References Category:Active Teams Category:Justice League of America